When the River Remembers: The Love Story of Owei & Seigha

 "When the River Remembers: The Love Story of Owei & Seigha"

By [Agbedeyi Odimientimi Desmond]

Chapter One: The Beginning

Back in the oil-rich creeks of Egbema Kingdom, where the river sings old songs and the mangroves whisper secrets, two souls once danced to the rhythm of young love — Owei, the quiet son of a fisherman, and Seigha, the spirited daughter of a trader-woman with healing hands. From the age of ten, they were inseparable. She called him “My stubborn genius,” and he called her “My doctor without a hospital.”

They carved hearts into the bark of iroko trees and made paper boats that sailed their dreams across the Egbema river. The whole town thought they would marry. But life — unpredictable and seasoned with salt — had other plans.

Owei’s family moved to Port Harcourt, and then he disappeared. No goodbye. No letter. Just… gone.

Chapter Two: Time and Tide

Fifteen years passed like a broken radio — sometimes too loud with memories, sometimes too quiet to bear. Seigha, now a medical doctor in Benin City, wore her stethoscope like armor. She married a civil engineer, had two lovely kids — Tamarabrakemi and Ebikeme — and tried to forget the boy with dreams bigger than his fishing net.

Meanwhile, in the cold, gray skies of London, Owei had built a life that looked perfect on the outside — corporate job, a well-mannered wife who preferred emails to emotions, and two children who called him “dad” but barely saw him. Yet deep inside, he carried a name he never told his wife — Seigha.

Then came Facebook. One evening, he saw her name on a “People You May Know” list. The world stopped spinning for five seconds.

Click.

Friend Request Sent.

Accepted.

"How have you been, Seigha?"

"Owei? After all these years?"

They talked. Innocently, at first. Just memories. Then old laughter. Then late-night video calls. And then… silence that said more than words ever could.

Chapter Three: The Return

That Christmas, Owei returned to Nigeria — ostensibly for business. But his real reason was hidden in the soft folds of the past. Seigha had also come home with her family. The universe, ever the mischievous playwright, directed both of them to Egbema.

And there, on a cool evening by the Egbema river — the same river that once held their paper boats — they met again.

She wore a yellow wrapper and a scarf. He wore an agbada that said “London boy trying to blend.” But their eyes… those eyes hadn’t aged a day.

There was silence.

Then laughter.

Then tears.

Then that dangerous moment when two hearts, bruised by life, decide to beat in rhythm again.

"You still frown when you're trying not to cry," she said.

"And you still smell like zobo and Dettol," he smiled.

They sat in a wooden canoe by the water, their legs dangling like teenagers.

“What do we do now?” Seigha whispered, voice trembling.

Owei sighed, looked up at the sky, and said, “Maybe… we start again. Not as children. But as grown-ups who finally know what we want.”

“And what if the world doesn’t agree?” she asked.

“Then we tell the world to mind its business,” he replied. “The river knows our story. It never forgot.”

Chapter Four: Tides and Choices

The days that followed were filled with stolen glances, private dinners, and long walks where their fingers brushed, then locked like puzzle pieces that never stopped fitting.

But there was guilt too. Marriage vows. Children. Fear. And a haunting question: Is it love or just nostalgia?

Then Seigha’s husband flew back early.

And Owei’s wife sent voice notes full of suspicion.

The suspense hung heavy.

Do they return to their families and live with the “what if”?

Or do they take a bold, terrifying leap — risking judgment for the kind of love that comes once in a lifetime?

Chapter Five: The Decision

One stormy night, Seigha left a note for her husband:

"I have loved you. But I never loved myself with you. Forgive me."

Owei bought a one-way ticket to Nigeria, leaving a letter on the fridge:

"I am going home. Not to a place. But to someone who makes me feel alive."

Epilogue: When the River Remembers

They didn’t run. They faced the storm. Painfully honest conversations with their spouses. Custody battles. Therapy. Scorn.

But they built a life together — quietly, deliberately — in Egbema, near the river that remembered them. They opened a small health center and a fishery co-op. Their children became friends. The village gossiped, then celebrated.

And every evening, they sit by the river, hands intertwined, whispering jokes only they understand.

Because when love is real — deep, raw, inconvenient, yet undeniable — even time, tradition, and the tides must bow in reverence.